I’ve never liked the term ‘estate agent’. There are far too many negative stereotypes associated with it. I am not that person. So I was delighted to read this piece written by some Danish clients of mine and find that they had coined a new title for me. Ambassador? I’ll take that….

Read their beautifully written story here – and get inspired!

We are Signe, Tarje and Roar, Danes and recent homeowners in the rocky part of Asturias; Quiros. We met Mary more or less by chance after having spent half a year on the road with our baby Roar. Before that we were working as respectively an academic and a nurse, but we have always had that nagging feeling that fulfilling the ideals of society was properly not the road to meaningful and happy lives for us. The courage to do something about it, however, only came with parenthood. And while it does take a lot of courage to break away from your routine, we have learned along the way that the shackles don’t just fall off simply because you start to rattle.

We had an idea that we wanted to find a place in Catalunya – and start building towards self-sustainability. However, while Spain is littered with old ruins in need of love – finding a suitable one for sale turned out to be an insurmountable task. While we liked the experience, Catalunya seem to be hit hard by drought-spells and increasing heat – and didn’t really feel like home to us. With a few rock climbing images from Asturias, our heads turned west, and the lushness here immediately felt right.

It is only after you have gone through the process yourself you realize how much work Mary has put into finding properties suitable for expats. Mary calls herself an estate agent, but we feel a more descriptive title would be ambassador. Of course she runs a business, but you can immediately tell her main focus isn’t improving her own margins, but bridging the substantial cultural gap it is for northern Europeans to buy property in Spain.

One show of the abandoned village Eros – halfway up a mountain – and we were sold. We are now a few months in, the house seems to have stopped crumbling down – the once omnipresent brambles are starting to reappear less and less and we are making the first moves at making our house liveable and our garden edible.

If you’re a regular reader of our blog you may already have met Mick Wyldbore-Wood as he previously shared his experience of buying a house through us. Well, it’s not quite a year since he completed his purchase and last week I was thrilled to see via Facebook just how much he and his family are enjoying their new property in Asturias.

A half-term break in February might not sound like the most promising time for a holiday in northern Spain but parents can’t be choosers. The Wyldbore-Woods are an intrepid bunch anyway and wouldn’t let the potential for some wintry weather put them off – in fact, they came fully equipped for skiing and hoping for snow. The mountains didn’t let them down and they managed to check out the three (yes, three!) nearest ski stations on different days and much to the kids’ delight.

Best of all they got to intersperse their days skiing with days at the beach soaking up some glorious winter sun in temperatures akin to a fine British summer’s day. With the mountains and the sea within an hour and a half’s drive of each other in Asturias, it’s a great combination for active holidaymakers. It’s even perfectly possible to ski and surf in the same day if you’re feeling particularly energetic!

It certainly means you can cram an awful lot into a relatively short holiday and that’s before we mention the wonderful regional cuisine. Mick and Claire were lucky enough to sneak in a romantic Valentine’s dinner at the Michelin-starred El Corral del Indianu in Arriondas. Definitely one for the bucket list.

Big thanks to the Wyldbore-Woods for sharing their fab video of their half-term break in Asturias with us! How much does it make you want your own holiday home in Asturias?!

We’ve been really looking forward to watching the Asturias episode of BBC’s ‘Escape to the Continent’ since we helped the production team with filming last October. Yesterday our long wait came to an end and we have to say it was worth the wait. If you haven’t seen it already then check it out on BBC iplayer.

Magical morning views from one of the properties featured in the show

If you don’t know Asturias very well then it’s an excellent, highly visual introduction to the region as well as to the Asturian property market. If you’re already a fan of the area then you can just sit back and enjoy the spectacular scenery whilst keeping a beady eye out for places and people you recognize!

And if the show gets you itching to buy one of the properties featured I can tell you *SPOILER ALERT* that two of the properties are still available for sale. And one of them has just had a big price drop, making it even more attractive. Look away now if you don’t want to know which one 😉

Now on at €130,000! Eco water mill in Pilona Our reference MR340

If you want to know more about the water mill for sale near Sevares then click here. And if you’re hankering after those spectacular views of the Picos de Europa mountains that you got from the glass-fronted galeria of the house in Cabranes then*Update* This property has now sold!* Or if you’d like to find out more about any aspect of buying property in Asturias or the realities of life as an ex-pat here then do feel free to get in touch. We’re always happy to help!

There was great excitement today at Spanish Property North headquarters when this large, purple truck pulled up at our door.

The cavalry had arrived.

But before I explain, let me first tell you a cautionary tale of an over-optimistic, overly-romantic ex-pat, with eyes bigger than her belly, who took on too much land, with too little knowledge and quickly found herself in a pickle, with weeds and brambles threatening to consume all before them. Armed only with a whimsical scythe our heroine was quickly overwhelmed.

So I she did the obvious thing. Ignored it all. Gaining a permanent crick in her neck from avoiding looking at the disaster that was her hopefully envisioned garden field. The thing is, the climate in Asturias is perfect for growing. It really is. The only problem is that if you don’t plant up and manage your land cleverly then nature will take over. If you don’t decide what grows, then she will. And she does seem to have a perverse liking for brambles and nettles and other unpleasantries. Punishment for neglect, I guess.

The good news is that there is no need to suffer in this way. Help is at hand. If you, like I, don’t have the necessary tools, time or training to get the best out of your garden (or field!) you can do what I did and call in ‘El Jardinero Inglés’ (The English Gardener – an added bonus for newly-arrived expats, the boss is English so no language difficulties to navigate).

I have to say, it’s one of those things you just wish you’d done sooner. I’ve seen that big, branded purple van knocking about for years now and yet it was only last week that I got around to ringing the number and asking for help. I think I thought they just specialized in bigger, posher jobs than mine. Turns out, if it’s a garden or growing related job then they can turn their hand to it. And all for a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Watch out for photos of my newly-scalped (and accessible!!) field coming soon to a social media account near you…

Autumn is in the air. Finally, there is a fresh crispness to the temperatures and a faint russet tone is creeping into the woodlands. Sweet chestnuts are starting to appear underfoot. Soon amaguestu will be upon us. Families are slowly settling back into the school routine, having started back on September 11th after a lengthy 3 month summer holiday.

Once again we are slaves to the alarm clock. We must be breakfasted, presentable and assembled at the bus stop by eight thirty a.m. And make no mistake about it, here in Spain eight thirty in the morning is pretty much right next door to the middle of the night. The Spanish are not naturally early risers.

Still, for me anyway, the pain of the early start is completely anaesthetized by the glorious beauty of the school run. As my son happily rides his first bike the 500 or so metres to the bus stop, I stride briskly alongside him, hand at the ready for the occasional quick shove on the steeper sections, my head raised to take in the views on all sides.

The photos below were all snapped on yesterday and today’s school run, on my iphone. Not a bad way to start the day, eh?

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If you fancy swapping your school run for one with a better outlook, check out this lovely family home with views to the Picos and woodland paths on the doorstep.

I took this snap on my phone yesterday as I wandered back from my neighbours’ house at twilight. It’s a bench that sits on the side of the road a few metres from our house. The Asturian countryside has a high bench to people ratio. In our tiny hamlet there is a total of 4 benches and a permanent adult population of 18. Benches are, of course, for sitting on. This one, as you can probably make out from the photo, is under a large fig tree and is the perfect spot to rest out of the heat of the midday sun and to while away half an hour or so, watching the world go (slowly) by or chatting to a friend. A few metres away around the corner in the plazuela (not quite so big or grand as a village square) is another, shadeless, bench; better suited to cooler winter days when there is nothing more nourishing to soul and body than to sit for a while with face upturned to the sun. But back to this bench. Alongside the fig leaf you see poking through the back slats is a well-ripened pepper and underneath the seat is a pair of discarded clogs, both indicators of its location next to the entrance of my neighbour’s huerta (veggie plot). This is the spot where she kicks off her ‘madrenas’ as she exits the field. These Asturian clogs, with their stilts for traction and to keep them out of the mud and their ample size to accommodate the wearing of slippers within, may be funky looking but they are eminently practical. (Before you ask, no, I haven’t got a pair. I haven’t *quite* worked up the courage yet. For now I’m sticking to wellies.) I’ll often see Rosi’s impressive harvest haul piled high here before she stores it in the barn or leaves it to dry under the eaves of the horreo. Often she’ll leave some fresh pickings on the bench for me to take for our tea. It sure beats the supermarket. If you fancy some bench-sitting in Asturias yourself why not take a look at this lovely village house for sale in La Vina, Villaviciosa for just €130,000? Set in a tranquil hamlet and with over 3,000m2 of productive land within its walled garden you’d also have a great excuse to buy yourself some clogs!

Finally, the market seems to be picking up. A combination of returning confidence, impatience on the part of buyers who want to move on with their plans and increasingly keen pricing has seen very encouraging levels of sales in the first quarter of 2014. Looking at some of the latest price reductions it’s no wonder that property is starting to move. These beauties are definitely priced to sell.

Country house hotel. Price slashed. Originally in excess of €700,000 now just €350,000 Ref C183